Workers have up to 180 calendar days from a discriminatory act to file a charge with the EEOC. In states with their own fair employment agencies, that stretches to 300 days. A strong claim can still be thrown out if the charge comes in late.
The filing deadline can change depending on where you work. Some states allow extra time to file, while others require filing with the state agency before filing a lawsuit.
In fiscal year 2025, the EEOC reported processing 88,201 new discrimination charges. A charge filed after the window can be dismissed as untimely, so workers should treat these deadlines as firm.
The Federal Baseline
A worker must first file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC before suing an employer under Title VII, the ADA, or the ADEA.
There is generally a statute of limitations when an employee is charging their employer for discrimination. Usually, the deadline is 180 days from the incident. This can stretch to 300 days when a state or local agency enforces its own law against the same kind of discrimination.
Mississippi has no state agency enforcing its own anti-discrimination law, which leaves workers there with 180 days to file an EEOC charge. A missed deadline is rarely excused.
Employees should be aware of the federal laws that cover the various types of workplace discrimination to determine if there has been a discriminatory action and when they need to start the process of filing.
When the EEOC finishes investigating, it issues a right-to-sue notice, and an employee can request one earlier. From the day the notice arrives, the employee has 90 days to file a lawsuit. Missing that window will normally bar the claim, even when the charge itself was filed on time.
Where State Law Extends the Clock
The state and federal systems run on separate clocks. The best example of this difference is California.
An employee usually has three years after the time of discrimination to submit a complaint to the state Civil Rights Department in California. This is increased from one year by legislation that came into effect in 2020. Once the agency delivers a right-to-sue notice, an employee would have one more year to file a civil suit.
That gap between the state and federal clocks affects when a worker should talk to a lawyer and how early to start saving evidence.
California’s longer window gives a worker and a workplace discrimination lawyer time to build a careful case. In Mississippi, the federal clock starts closing after six months.
There is also usually an agreement between state agencies and the EEOC regarding work sharing. In such cases, filing a complaint with one preserves rights under both programs. Dual filing becomes relevant in cases where there is a difference in the coverage of the conduct complained of in state and federal laws.
Why the Discriminatory Act Date Is Contested Ground
Pinning down when the clock starts is not always obvious. In a case involving being fired or passed over for promotion, the clock usually begins when the worker first receives the news of the decision. Harassment follows a different rule. When the mistreatment forms a pattern, one charge can reach the whole series, provided at least one of the acts happened inside the filing window.
That gives employees extra room on harassment claims, but it also sets up disputes. Employers often argue that the later incidents had nothing to do with the earlier ones. If a court agrees, the older incidents become time-barred and can drop out of the case.
Practical Steps While the Clock Is Running
Employees who believe that they have been discriminated against typically gain by acting promptly instead of waiting and seeing how events evolve. Documentation will be more reliable than memories over time. Emails, internal communications, evaluations, and the documentation of the incident itself will be more convincing months and years later than just the memory of what happened. These pieces of evidence will help establish the exact date of the incident.
An internal avenue for complaints is also typically worth using, since many companies require it, but also because it will complement the record later on. Unfortunately, an internal complaint will not replace filing a charge with the EEOC or the state agency before the deadline.
The best advice is to talk to a lawyer first in any case. The lawyer will be able to figure out which deadline is in effect and help you avoid the frequent error of relying on the presence of a longer deadline in your state. This discrepancy happens because some states precisely follow the federal deadline of 180 days, while others go far beyond that.
The Cost of Waiting
Deadlines exist because old disputes are hard to sort out fairly. Evidence can be lost, and witnesses can become hard to reach after changing jobs. An employer can raise a late filing as a defense, and the delay can end the case. A worker can ask for an exception, but agencies and courts rarely grant one.
Marking the day of the incident as day one and putting the filing deadline on a calendar gives a worker room to prepare. If the window closes first, even a well-documented claim can be dismissed.
